Breaking News

Opinion

Human verification essential

Editorials

Municipalities in this part of Pennsylvania generally feel insulated from the problems affecting big cities. For the most part that is true, especially regarding crime and the challenges — financial and otherwise — associated with providing needed municipal services. Even the issues of cities such as Altoona and Johnstown are of minor scope compared with those being dealt with by New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta, for example. Municipalities large or small and those of any size in between have one thing in common, though, the need for an adequate amount of revenue to ...

Growth begins where comfort zone ends

Other Commentaries

My son was furious when I picked him up from day camp, slamming the door when he got in the car. He had been downgraded from a “yellow” swimmer to a “red” swimmer. He hadn’t forgotten how to swim. The YMCA had simply changed its policy. My son loves to swim. He likes donning goggles and swimming underwater, not to mention perfecting his handstand. But the YMCA had changed its safety rules, and rightfully so. The shallow end reaches 5 feet deep, and campers now have to be at least 5 feet tall to swim there without a life jacket unless they pass the swim test. My son is 4 feet, ...

Boys of Summer: Baseball to the rescue, again

Other Commentaries

At my age, I shouldn’t care so much whether the Boston Red Sox win or lose, let alone permit my daily mood to rise or fall accordingly. It’s only a game. It’s supposed to be a pastime (according to AI, something that “helps make the hours pass pleasantly when you are not working”), not an obsession. There are 162 games a year and letting your emotional state hinge on whether your favorite team scores more runs than the other team is obviously senseless. And yet. Generations of Americans have been swept up by the game. Children never forget their first trip to the ...

Is ignorance bliss or just plain scary?

Letters to the Editor

During a meeting with a Blair County Assistant District Attorney, the ADA reiterated to me the unpredictability of jurors’ decisions in sexual assault cases by telling me a horrific story. Recently, the ADA led the prosecution in a rape case during which the defendant was acquitted even after admitting to initially lying to police about having intercourse with the alleged victim, only retracting that lie after DNA evidence proved otherwise. My reason for writing is not because of the jury’s decision, but something much more concerning. The ADA told me that a member of the jury ...

When is enough, really enough?

Letters to the Editor

Once again, President Donald Trump is dominating the headlines with claims about the 2020 election. We’re exhausted by the endless loop of lies, yet some media outlets still indulge him, giving credibility to claims that have been repeatedly investigated and rejected. It’s like a parent rewarding a child after endless whining — they reinforce the behavior, so it never stops. How much time, money and taxpayer resources have already been spent disproving the fantasy of a “stolen” election? Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Epstein victims continue pleading for justice and the ...

Christians shouldn’t be exclusionary

Letters to the Editor

If one compares the words that Pete Hegseth uses and the words used by Taliban or Iranian leaders, it is difficult to determine a difference in their perspectives of the value of nonbelievers and how they should be treated. They believe that it is their duty to convert, eliminate or exclude nonbelievers. Each accepts the use of the sword to bring the “others” to yield to their way of thinking and living. There is no mercy shown to nonbelievers. It is Christian Sharia Law although Hegseth and his like can’t see it. They are the same as their perceived enemies. Blind. Hegseth takes ...